On Monday, Florida Governor Ron DeSantis signed an executive order that will suspend all COVID-19 emergency public health restrictions issued by local governments in Florida.

DeSantis signed the executive order to bridge the gap before a law goes into effect Ju;y 1 that is designed to accomplish the same goal.

Many, including the governor, have been contrasting Florida’s open businesses and schools with “lockdown” states over the last year. Governor DeSantis issued a stay-at-home order for nonessential workers in April 2020, near the start of the pandemic, but through most of the pandemic Florida has been looked upon as much more “open” in comparison to other states.

Governor DeSantis said the emergency orders are no longer necessary because enough people in the state have been vaccinated, including 80% of the state’s seniors.

“I think that’s the evidence-based thing to do,” DeSantis said, adding that asking vaccinated individuals to continue to wear masks would undermine confidence in the coronavirus vaccines.

Individual private businesses and organizations can still require masks and enforce social distancing and other protective measures, including Florida’s resorts and theme parks.

Florida reported 31 new virus-related deaths Sunday, bringing the death toll to 35,968. Average new cases however have fallen in Florida by more than 13% over the last week, dropping to 4,885 as of Sunday, according to the data.

“We have a majority of our adult population that has been vaccinated. At this point to people that haven’t been vaccinated is certainly not because a lack of supply or a lack of availability,” DeSantis said.

“We have a majority of our adult population (that) has been vaccinated. At this point to people that haven’t been vaccinated is certainly not because of a lack of supply or a lack of availability,” DeSantis said. “You have a right to participate in society — go to a restaurant, movie, a ballgame, all these things — without having to divulge this type of information. And oh, by the way, you give that to big companies, they are going to absolutely try to monetize that. So, we didn’t want to go down that road,” DeSantis said.